CMH honors physicians for community service
Medical staff leaders reminisce about early years
Mahin Yazdani, MD - 1st female physician in county
Raja Hawit, MD - 1st pediatrician in Calvert
Issam Damalouji, MD - chief of staff for 28 years
Prince Frederick, MD (May 11, 2009) - Calvert Memorial Hospital recognized three local physicians for their leadership and service to the community. The honorees were Dr. Tracy-Sawyer Nash for her work in the emergency department, Dr. Julie O'Keefe for her advocacy of diabetes and Dr. Anthony Harewood for helping to implement digital radiography at CMH.
A special award was presented to Dr. Charles Judge, Dr. Michael Skolnick and Dr. Ciaran Browne for their efforts to develop a community health information system. The new technology, when implemented, will allow the hospital and its affiliates along with area providers to electronically share patients' medical records.
"Calvert Memorial Hospital has been so fortunate over many years to have really exceptional physicians driving change and the growth of our organization," said CMH President and CEO Jim Xinis. "We thank you for choosing to practice at CMH and helping ensure our hospital is the best in the region."
Additionally, an honorary award went to Dr. Osmon Ersoy in appreciation for his years of service. Ersoy, who joined CMH in 1963, served as chief of staff and on the board of directors. Retired since 1985, he maintains a keen interest in the healthcare needs of the community.
Seven physician groups were recognized for their participation with Calvert Healthcare Solutions, which provides primary and specialty care to the uninsured in the county. The honorees were Advanced Orthopedic Specialists, Calvert Otolaryngology, Patuxent Cardiology, Calvert Internal Medicine Group, Dunkirk Family Practice, Shah Associates and Calvert Arundel Family Medicine. Special thanks were also extended to Dr. Charles Bennett, Dr. Mike Brooks and Dr. Rafik Nasr for their support of the program.
"Our community physicians continue to be the cornerstone of our program," said Jon Frank, president of CHS. "We are truly fortunate to have such a caring and community minded medical staff."
The highlight of the evening was the First Physicians Award given – in celebration of the hospital's 90th birthday – to 10 distinguished medical staff leaders for their long-standing service. Together, Dr. Emad Al-Banna, Dr. Issam Damalouji, Dr. Bennett Frankel, Dr. Raja Hawit, Dr. Anwar Munshi, Dr. Reza Naini, Dr. Gerald Sterner, Dr. Kioumarce Yazdani, Dr. Mahin Yazdani and Dr. Guillermo Zambrano have dedicated 359 years of caring for the community.
"The county was very small. You called everyone by their first name," said Al-Banna, who joined CMH in 1970. "The highway stopped at the bowling alley and there was no bridge in Solomons." The general surgeon added, "We did everything then from gall bladders to cancer surgery. Everyone did his or her share to bring the hospital to where it is now. Today, CMH is second to none in Southern Maryland."
"I did the first fractured jaw that was ever done at CMH," said Frankel, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. "It was on the 4th of July in the old hospital and Shirley Zehner was the scrub nurse." He remembers the staff camaraderie. "Everybody worked very close together. All the docs helped each other regardless of their job or position," he said. "People would stay late past their shift. It was a real family."
Zambrano started in the emergency department in 1974. "For the first year and a half, I worked round-the-clock every Saturday," said the radiologist. "When we were on the third floor of Weems building (now the CMH annex), we had to wheel the stretchers across the parking lot."
He went on to add, "When the Calvert Medical Arts Center opens, we are going to be at the cutting edge of any imaging center in the U.S."
Sterner, who grew up on the Eastern Shore, recalls the summer of 1975. "I was a resident at the University of Maryland Hospital when I attended a conference in Annapolis and discovered there were three more counties in Southern Maryland." He came for a visit and saw opportunity. "I was really impressed with their vision," he said. "What convinced me was the new hospital being built."
Naini, also a member of the "Class of 1976," estimates that he has delivered close to 6,000 babies. "I had been at the hospital for a couple of months," said Naini, "when I got a call from the health department to help with their clinic for high-risk mothers with no prenatal care." That relationship continued for 20 years. "I was very happy to help that."
Munshi came a year later. He was the first board-certified internist at CMH. "It was challenging early on," he said. "If someone got sick in the middle of the night we came back." Many of his patients have been coming to him for over 30 years. "I am very appreciative of the trust and confidence they placed in me."
Mahin Yazdani, an internist, came to Calvert in 1976 with her husband who is a cardiologist. She was the first female doctor in the county. "The early years were interesting," she said. "I would have pregnant women and parents with children show up at my office." Acceptance came slowly but surely. "At first male patients were reluctant," she said. "Now it doesn't matter."
It was such big news when Hawit opened his pediatrics practice in 1974 it made the front page of the local newspaper. "When I first came to CMH, I saw the potential here," he said. "There was a high quality of care for a community hospital." He clearly enjoys what he's doing. "It's not really work, you have to give it a different name," he said.
Damalouji, who trained as a surgeon, started a family practice in 1961 to support himself. "Back then it was 24/7 for us," he said. "I took care of headaches, heart attacks and hemorrhoids and at the end of the night delivered babies." He laughs and adds, "I don't plan to retire. They're going to have to call 911 for me."
"I'm still active, reviewing new applicants and regular staff on a yearly basis," he said. "We have attracted the best cadre of doctors in all fields. The community is enriched by the quality of physicians that we have at CMH."
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